GROVE CITY — Sam Mowrey and his Grove City High football team find themselves in uncharted waters this week.

The Eagles are coming off their first loss of the season, 48-14, and have to prepare for the very unorthodox offense of Central Tech before the two teams clash at 7 p.m. Friday at Slippery Rock University in the first round of the District 10 5-A playoffs.

“That night, Meadville was a much better team than we were in all aspects,” Mowrey said. “It was a little wake-up call to all of us.”

Giving up 422 yards rushing would raise a shrieking alarm for any team.

That's what the Bulldogs rolled up in the rain against the Eagles last week. It doesn't get any easier for Grove City's run defense Friday against Central Tech, which runs a single-wing attack with several players in the backfield and an unbalanced offensive line.

It all starts for the Falcons (5-4), who started the season 1-3, with Keyshaan Husband.

Husband has rushed for more than 1,000 yards this season.

Mowrey compares him to Meadville's Journey Brown.

“They are a dangerous football team,” Mowrey said. “They run that single-wing with those unbalanced formations. They have a few running backs that are tough. We have a challenge ahead of us.”

That challenge has already started.

Mowrey has had to attack this week on two fronts: getting his team ready to play Central Tech and getting his scout team ready to emulate Central Tech.

The latter has proven to be a test.

“The younger kids had a great JV season (they went undefeated) and now it's vitally important for them to get the varsity team prepared,” Mowrey said. “It's a huge responsibility.

“I've never seen an offense like that before,” Mowrey said. “I've never coached against it before. They run a bunch of buck sweep, counter and power. It's very difficult to simulate that and with the speed they run it in practice.”

But Mowrey said when you break down the film, it still all comes down to fundamentals.

“It just boils down to reading your keys,” Mowrey said. “You have to ignore the smoke and mirrors and trust your reads. The reads will take you to the ball.”

Grove City will try to get its potent offense back on track.

The Eagles still have quarterback Kameron Patterson, who has thrown for 2,110 yards and 27 touchdowns this season. He's only five yards shy of breaking the school's single-season passing yardage record.

Patterson has completed passes to 11 players this season. Logan Lutz had 34 receptions for 595 yards and seven touchdowns. A.J. Turner has caught 33 passes for 761 yards and 12 scores.

Mowrey has been happy with the attitude in practice after that first loss.

“It's a fresh season,” Mowrey said. “Our focus has to be fixing the things we did wrong. I was really happy with the attitude and effort and focus (Monday). Our season wasn't over because we lost to Meadville. We have a new season now.”